Evaporator unit with condensate collecting means



. May 19, 1959 J. b. LOVELEY 2,386,956

' EVAPORATOR UNIT WITH CONDENSATE COLLECTING MEANS Filed 1190.22. 1954 vr 3SheetsSh eet'1 O V INVENTOR.

'. Y BY 7 h v v I Ja Z Z7. la ala May 9 J. D.LOVELEY 2,886,956

EVAPORATOR UNIT WITH" CONDENSATE COLLECTING MEANS Filed Dec. 22, 1954 Ys Sheets-Sheet 2 A4 c /6 I 5.0

o INVENTOR' "2/ J2 .2 Lore/Q y.

J. D. LOVELEY May 19, 1959 2,886,956

EVAPORATOR UNIT WITH CONDENSATE COLLECTING MEANS Fil ed Dec. 22, 1954 3-SheetsSheet 5 I I N VEN TOR. JZJa/i .B Zara/:

" EVAPORATORUNIT WITH CONDENSATE COLLECTING lVIEANS Joseph D. Loveley,North Dayton; Ohio, assignor to Chrysler Corporation, Highland Park,Mich a corporation of. Delaware Application December 22 1954, Serial No.477,039

3 Claims. (Cl. 62-285) This invention relates to an improvedinstallationfor an evaporator unit in a hot air. furnace.

Itis aprincipal object of this invention. to' provide an evaporator unitand -cooperatingcmeans in a furnace casing defining a plenumtoaccommodate installation of the evaporator unit with a minimum of ductalterations.

It isalso an. object of this invention to provide an evaporator unit andcooperating furnace components to facilitate installation of anevaporator unit directly over a furnace thereby requiring nofloor spaceeither for the evaporator or forwaccess to'it beyond the floorspaceutilized by the furnace.

It is an additional object of the invention to provide means forimounting ancvaporator coil packagein asso- 1 ciation with: a furnacesuch that access tomthe package for servicefrom one direction will beadequate rather thanrequiring access from a pluralityof directions.

It is? also object of the; invention to provide an evaporator coilpackage orunitthat may be installed at the time of installationroffafurnace, orinthe alternative, ."may. be installed at a lateridate bymerely sliding the coil packageinto place without the necessity of anyalteration in ductwork.

It is a further objectof theinvention to provide an evaporatorcoilpackage construction particularly adapted to providean adequate coilsurface in a smalll space and to provide a condensate disposal meanswhich is fully exposed to facilitate inexpensive servicing.

. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspectiveview of one form of an evaporator unit adaptedforinstallation in a plenum above a hot air furnace;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one type of furnace showing theevaporator unit of Fig. 1 installed'in a plenum above the furnace;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the evaporator unit of Fig. 1 installedin a plenum provided above another type of furnace;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic showing 'of one installation of the Fig. 2 typeoffurnaceand evaporator unit;

Fig. Sis a diagrammatic viewof a modified installation of the Fig. 2type of furnace and evaporator unit;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevation of the plenum andevaporatorunit mounted on the furnace in Figs. 2, 4 andS;

Fig. 7 is a vertical section taken on the lines 7+7 of i Fig. 4 and Fig.6; and

Fig. 8 is. a perspective view of the supportingframe of the evaporatorunit illustrated in Fig. 1.

InFig. 2 ahot air furnace 10 is illustrated. This furnace is ofconventional construction and has been illustrated as of the oil firedtype although it is to be understoodthat agas fired furnace could beusedvif desired.

The construction of the furnace 10 includes a sheet metal jacket 12housing a combustion chamber 14 which is heated by an oil burner 16. Aheat exchanger 18 surrounds the combustion "chamber and a blower 20 isprovided forldrawing air in through an opening 21in jacket .12 andforcing the air upwardly through the furnace 10 United States Patent2,886,956 Patented May 19,1959

ice

over the heat exchanger 18 and outwardly through an opening 22' providedin the upper surfaceof the furnace 10. The opening 22 is bestillustrated in Figs; 6 and 7. A flue 24 is provided on the furnace forthe discharge of r the combustion gases.

A box-like casing 26 defining a plenum chamber 23 -is positioned-on topof the furnace with the casing 26 encompassing the furnace air outletZZ.The casing 26 is preferably provided with an opening 2% inits uppersurface for the discharge of conditioned'air. There is thus provided anair path extending upwardly through the casing 26 from furnace ll).

An evaporator unit 30 is illustrated in Fig. 1 and this I evaporatorcoil package or unit is adapted for installation in thecasing 26 in amanner to be described herein. The

evaporator unit 36 is adaptedto cool air thatis forced through hand isadapted for connection by refrigerant lines 32 and 34 to a conventionalcondensing unit 36 which is diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 4 asincluding a compressor'SS and a condenser 10. The condensingnnit 36 maybe either air cooled or water cooled.

The blower of the furnace lit is utilized for forcing 1. air over theheat exchanger i8 and through the evaporator unitStl and the air willbeheated or cooled depending upon whether the furnace is in operation orthe evaporatorunit has been cooled by the condensing unit 36.

Suitable controls which do not form a part of this invention may be usedto control the operation. of the furnace or alternatively to initiatethe operation of the evaporator 1 package unit 3% so that suitablyconditioned air will be discharged from the opening 29.

in Fig. 3 an installation that resembles the installation of Fig. 2 isillustrated and the principal difference between the two figures is thatthe evaporator unit 30 is installed in a different type of conventionalfurnace in Fig. 3. A furnace a2 is illustrated in Fig. 3 in combinationwith the evaporator unit and is provided with a sheet metal jacket 44having *an air inlet opening 46. The

jacket 44 encloses conventional components such as a blower 48 anda gasburner 50 which is positioned in a heat exchanger 52. A flue 54 isprovided for the discharge of combustion gases and the blower ill isadapted to draw air in through the opening 46 and force it over the heatexchanger 52 and discharge the air upwardly into acasing 26' that ispositioned on top of the furnace in a manner similar to that describedin connection with Fig. .2. The casing 26' has an opening 29' on the topthereoffor the discharge of air and it houses an evaporator unit 30 ofthe type illustrated in Fig. 1 in a plenum defined by the casing 26'.

The furnace 10 which was described in connection with i Fig. 2 isillustrated in Fig. 4 in one typical installation in which a duct6tlconducts air from the usual cold air return duct 62 so that the air isadmitted to the furnace through the opening 21 of Fig. 2 for subsequentpassage upwardly through the furnace and discharge from the opening 29into a duct 64-. it be provided with a filter 66.

If desired the duct may In some buildings a type of heating which iscommonly referred to as perimeterheating is used and in such instalcoldair return duct 62 and vertically extending duct 64} are identical tothat illustrated in Fig. 4, but aduct 72 conductsairdischarged fromopening 29 downward for discharge into the pit 68.

The casings 26 and 26' are each provided with a pair it of paralleltracks 81 which are respectively welded or otherwise secured to theinner surface of opposite sides of the casing as illustrated in Fig. 6.The casings 26 and 26 are also provided with an access opening 80 and aremovable cover plate 82 which is adapted to cover the access opening80. Suitable screws 84 secure the cover plate in position on casing 26or 26'. The evaporator unit 30 is of a size adapted for longitudinalinsertion through the access opening 80 as illustrated in Fig. 6.

Thus the evaporator unit 30 may be installed in the easing 26 or 26' atany time without the necessity of extensive duct work being performedand this is accomplished by reason of the fact that the evaporator unit30 is adapted for slidable reception on a pairof tracks 81. Temporaryremoval of cover plate 82 and flue 24 adapt the furnace and casing 26for reception of the evaporator unit 30.

The evaporator unit 30 includes a frame 86 that is most clearlyillustrated in Fig. 8. The frame 86 is generally rectangular in planview and has an opening 88 defined thereby. The frame 86 has oppositelydisposed inclined side walls 90 and 92 which are respectively providedwith depending lips of flanges 94 and 96. The lip 94 is adapted to beslidably received on one of the parallel tracks 81 and the lip 96 isadapted to be received on the other of the tracks 81. A pair of flatrectangular evaporator coils 100 and 102 are mounted on the framestructure 86 as illustrated in Fig. 1 and Fig. 6 with coil 100 restingon the inclined side wall 90 of the frame structure 86 and with coil 102resting on the inclined side wall 92 of frame 86. The evaporator coils100 and 102 are operatively connected to an expansion valve 104 and adischarge header 106 in a manner well known in the art.

The frame structure 86 also includes a pair of longitudinally extendingdrain troughs 108 and 110 which are respectively secured to the framestructure along the inner edge of inclined side walls 90 and 92. Asillustrated in Fig. 7 the drain troughs 108 and 110 are provided with adrain hole 111 which is located above a transversely extending trough112 which is carried by drain troughs 108 and 110 and positionedimmediately below these drain troughs. A pipe 113 carries the condensatefrom drain trough 112.

End plates 114 are secured to the front and back edges of the evaporatorcoils 100 and 102, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 6, to prevent air whichis being forced through the coils 100 and 102 from escaping out the endsof the coils. Air is thus forced upwardly by blower 20 and passesthrough evaporator coils 100 and 102 for cooling thereby when the coilsare in a chilled condition. Moisture which collects upon the coils isprevented from dropping off the coils by virtue of the upwardly flowingair. The moisture runs down the coils by capillary action and isdeposited in the drain troughs 108 and 110.

I claim:

1. A frame structure for supporting a pair of evaporator coils andcollecting condensate therefrom comprising first and second oppositelydisposed, elongated side walls each having a generally flat rectangularplate portion with an inner edge and an outer edge, said inner edgesbeing substantially parallel and said side walls being spaced from eachother to define an opening therebetween to accommodate an upwardmovement of air therethrough, said plate portions diverging upwardly andbeing adapted 'to serve as supports for a pair of evaporator coils, saidframe structure further including first and second end portionsrespectively secured to each of said side walls and spanning the spacetherebetween to give rigidity to the frame structure, said side wallseach including a structure defining a drain trough, said drain troughstructures being respectively coextensive in length with the inner edgeof one of said plate portions and being carried respectively by theirassociated plate portions in immediate proximity with and at a lowerelevation than the inner edge of that plate portion, each of said sidewalls further including a lip depending from the aforementioned outeredge of one of said plate portions so that said lips flare outwardlyfrom said plate portions to define a pair of spaced track elements bymeans of which said frame structure may be supported.

2. A frame structure for supporting a pair of evaporator coils andcollecting condensate therefrom comprising first and second oppositelydisposed elongated side walls each having a generally flat rectangularplate portion with an inner edge, said inner edges being substantiallyparallel and said side walls being spaced from each other to define anopening therebetween to accommodate an upward movement of airtherethrough, said plate portions diverging upwardly and being adaptedto serve as supports for a pair of evaporator coils, said framestructure further including first and second end portions respectivelysecured to each of said side walls and spanning the space therebetweento give rigidity to the frame structure, said side walls each includinga structure defining a drain trough, said drain trough structures beingrespectively coextensive in length with the inner edge of one of saidplate portions and being carried respectively by their associated plateportions in immediate proximity with and at a lower elevation than theinner edge of that plate portion.

3. Cooling apparatus comprising wall structure defining an air duct ofrectangular horizontal section, said wall structure including parallelside walls, track elements carried by said side walls and extendinginwardly thereof into the above mentioned duct, an evaporator unitsupported within the duct on said track elements, said evaporator unitincluding a frame structure having first and second oppositely disposed,elongated side structures each having a fiat, rectangular plate portionwith an inner edge, said inner edge being substantially parallel andsaid side structure being spaced from each other to define an openingtherebetween to accommodate an upward movement of air through the abovementioned duct, said plate portions diverging upwardly toward said ductside walls, first and second end portions on said frame structurerespectively secured to each of said side structures and spanning asubstantial portion of the aforementioned duct to give rigidity to theframe structure, said side structures each including a portion defininga drain trough, said drain trough portions being respectivelycoextensive in length with the inner edge of one of said plate portionsand being carried respectively by their associated plate portions inimmediate proximity with and at a lower elevation than the inner edge ofthe associated plate portion, each of said side structures resting uponone of said track elements to support said frame structure in'said ductand first and second, flat evaporator coils substantially coextensive inlength with said plate portions, said evaporator coils having greaterheighth than thickness and respectively resting upon said plate portionsand converging above the above mentioned opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,945,379 Roesch Jan. 30, 1934 2,004,255 Trane June 11, 1935 2,136,222Starr Nov. 8, 1938 2,150,076 Neubauer et al Mar. 7, 1939 2,173,280Tourneau Sept. 19, 1939 2,175,396 Hoffman Oct. 10, 1939 2,265,272Ditzler Dec. 9, 1941 2,319,062 Holmes May 11, 1943 2,506,257 Whelan May2, 1950 2,615,687 Simmons Oct. 28, 1952 2,690,654 Graham Oct. 5, 19542,702,994 Borgerd Mar. 1, 1955 2,798,366 Erl July 9, 1957 FOREIGNPATENTS 450,340 Great Britain July 15, 1936 986,222, France Mar. 21,1951

